(Re)Assemblages in Flux: Hunters, Aiyu, and Multispecies Relationships

Principle Investigator：Guan-Jhang Chen

Aiyu (jelly fig) is a unique dioecious species in Taiwan. Since it is a syconus, the only pollinator of Aiyu is the Aiyu pollinating wasp which parasitizes and grows inside the male Aiyu fruits. When the Aiyu wasp, covered in male pollen, enters the bottom of the female Aiyu plant for pollination, it forms symbiosis with Aiyu. Due to the characteristics of Aiyu's growth and pollination process, Aiyu was primarily collected in the wild in the past.

The Aiyu collectors of the Tsou tribe (often also hunters) used to form Aiyu collection teams and venture to high-altitude areas to collect wild Aiyu seeds. They were familiar with the distribution of Aiyu in the forest and even developed their narrative about the climate, environment, and ecology through Aiyu collection. For example, monkeys would bite the bottom of Aiyu fruits to accelerate the ripening process, and animals like Formosan muntjacs would frequently pick up fallen Aiyu fruits that the monkeys had eaten. In contemporary times, Aiyu cultivation has gradually overcome its planting limitations. Many collectors have created an environment similar to the natural habitats of wild Aiyu with trees, structures, and even cement pillars. The number of Aiyu teams that venture into the mountains for days has gradually decreased. This study aims to investigate the Aiyu collection path taken by Aiyu collectors/hunters in the past. Through walking and exploring together with the collectors/hunters, I seek to understand how they depict the forests, environments, and ecology, while also comparing past collection practices with contemporary cultivation techniques, and considering how Aiyu, collectors/hunters/cultivators, Aiyu wasps, and multispecies can be reassembled to create a contemporary Aiyu landscape.